Geeks Rule!

It's National Inventors Month, what is your daughter doing to celebrate?

August 28, 2003

By Marion F. Swan and Ellen Christie, staff writers

Imagine attending an event where Albert Einstein, two Girl Scouts, Madame Curie, and Thomas Edison are all on stage. What would they have in common? Well, they are all inventors.

With initiatives like Girls Go Tech and Fair Play, Girl Scouts are discovering that studying science, technology, engineering, and math is both cool and useful. In fact, the organization has focused on helping girls have fun while becoming innovative inventors and problem solvers. Back in 1913, Girl Scouts first earned the Electrician Badge by learning about battery connections, fusion, non-conducting substances, and insulation. Today, scientists and engineers, including engineering student and professional Indy Race car driver Sarah Fisher, and astronaut Sally Ride, credit Girl Scouts for opening up the wide world of science, technology, engineering, and math to girls nationwide.

Women represent only 25% of the technology workforce and only 10% of the nation's top technology jobs, Girls Go Tech is aimed at bridging this gender-techno gap. This Girl Scout campaign's public service advertisement and interactive online programs, a partnership with the Ad Council, serves as a call to action for parents to encourage girls to embrace science, technology, engineering, and math.

Through a partnership with the Intel Foundation, Girl Scouts each year participate in summertime Camp Fair Play, and yearlong workshops focused on science projects with professional mentors.

As Ruthe Farmer, a program manager of a Fair Play program in Oregon says, "The most amazing thing is watching girls have a light bulb experience—recognizing how science and math are truly a part of their everyday lives. Girls who are ambivalent about science, technology, engineering, and math become excited and empowered. Suddenly, it's cool to like science and know how electricity is produced or what makes a car engine run." After a recent tour of an engineering plant, one girl was heard to comment, "The heck with journalism, I'm going to become an engineer!"

Musicians Alert—A Problem Solved

Thanks to two Girl Scouts from Oregon, learning to play the stand-up bass might become much easier for musicians of all ages. As 14-year-old Girl Scout Erika put it, "It's hard to learn how to position your fingers on the bass. When our teacher used wads of paper and rubber bands to keep our fingers properly positioned, I knew there must be an easier way." So Erika joined forces with fellow 14-year-old Girl Scout Alicia and invented the "Bass Space." Made out of plastic, the Bass Space helps beginner and veteran musicians position their fingers properly on the instrument.

Back From Vacation and Your Plants Are Thriving

Tired of returning from vacation to a home filled with dead plants? Thanks to Kelsey, a 13-year-old Girl Scout from Oregon, this plant tragedy might just be a thing of the past. Kelsey invented an automatic plant watering system that saves your plants from both under- and overwatering. This system is equipped with two sensors that are pushed into the potting soil. One sensor tells the pump in the under-pot to turn on because it's dry, while the other tells the pump to turn off when wet. This dual-sensor marvel can be tuned to each individual plant and ensures that each plant gets water when it is needed. Kelsey's watering system also has a sensor that tells you when the water level is low. A battery-powered and AC-powered system is in development.

National Inventors Month

Following a 1995 study by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology that revealed that most people think of inventors as old an eccentric, the United Inventors Association of the USA, the Academy of Applied Science, and Inventors' Digest established National Inventors Month (NIM). The month pays homage to past inventors and encourages young people to add "inventor" to the list of things they want to be when they grow up. As Joanne Hayes-Rines, editor of Investors' Digest says, "The truth is that inventors come in all shapes, sizes, and colors but it's hard to encourage kids to be inventive if they think of inventors as kooks!"

Get Involved

Today, Girl Scouts receive hands-on experience in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and math, and are mentored by professionals as they work in laboratories, and win accolades for new and unique inventions. As one young Girl Scout Fair Play participant said recently, "In school we learn what others have done [in science]; here we learn what we can do on our own."

Visit Girls Go Tech Web site to see how science, math, technology, and engineering can be part of your life. To learn how to have fun and get involved in both exciting and everyday science, technology, engineering and math activities offered by Girl Scouts, contact your local Girl Scout office.